This invention relates to dollies useful for the removal, moving and mounting of vehicle tires. More particularly, the dolly is useful in mounting and unmounting large vehicle tires from a vehicle.
The military uses a variety of tactical ground vehicles, all of which use large truck tires. When changing or rotating the tires the troops are required to lift and position the tires, which is a difficult and time-consuming job. It is particularly difficult for the smaller members of the armed services who may lack both the strength and height necessary to position the large tires on an axle which is a substantial height above ground level. Wheeled dollies useful for removing or mounting vehicle wheels are known in the art. Generally such devices are constructed with a mainframe having upright standards and a second frame supported on the mainframe, which holds a tire assembly and is movable vertically on the upright standards to lift and position the tire. Such devices are by nature heavy and bulky. The combination of weight and storage space required by such structures makes them unsuitable for use in military units, which are deployed throughout the world.
It would be desirable to have a folding, lightweight tire dolly that can be easily stored as part of the equipment for tire changing and rotation on a military vehicle. Such a device should be of simple construction, collapsible to minimum space requirement, and allow for easy loading of the tire on the dolly for transport. The dolly should also have means to allow the tire to be rotated on the dolly into a position where the holes in the wheel rim are aligned with the threaded axle studs on which the tire assembly is mounted.